Thread cutter



P 10, 1946- M. SCHREIBER EIAL 2,407,578 THREAD CUTTER Filed July 3, 1945 31244. 4 fa TTTTTTTTTT! INVENTORS /Vnx 52%95/55? Patented Sept. 10, 1946 THREAD CUTTER Max Schreiber, Philadelphia, Pa., and Alphonso Stebbins, Delanco, ,J., assignors to Century Mills, Riverside, .N. J a partnership Application July 3, 1945, Serial No. 602,990

The invention here described relates to thread cutters for sewing machines.

Objects of the invention are to provide a cutter which will save thread by enabling cutting of the thread close to the needle, which can be used to cut the upper as well as the lower thread and which while located in a handy position, accessible for instant use, will be so guarded and protected as to be entirely safe for the operator.

Other objects are to provide a cutter with these advantages, in a renewable blade form of construction, in which old blades can be easily taken out and be replaced by new blades.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a thread cutter of the character indicated which can be readily applied to sewing machines at low cost and which will not at all hinder or be in the way of the usual operations.

Other desirable objects and the novel features by which the purposes of the invention are attained will appear or are definitely set forth in the following specification.

The drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification illustrates one preferred embodiment of the invention. Structure, however, may be modified and changed as regards this illustration, all within the true intent and broad scope of the invention as hereinafter defined and claimed.

Fig. 1 in the drawing is a plan view of the invention; as incorporated inthe bed plate of an overcasting or overedging sewing machine.

Fig. 2 is a. side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view as on substantialy the plane of lines 3--3 of Fig. 1.

In the illustration the invention is shown as incorporated in a machine of the overcasting or overedging type having a, bed plate or work support which is inclined from the outer portion 5 downwardly at 6 toward the lower rearward portion I. This plate, however, as shown particularly in Fig. 1, differs from the usual construction in that it is narrowed inwardly in the inclined portion at 8 toward the needle center indicated approximately at 9.

At the underside of the narrowed and down-' wardly inclined portion the plate is provided with a similarly downwardly inclined clamp shown in the form of a lug or enlargement 10 at the underside of the plate and provided with an upwardly open slot or groove l I approximately in line with the edge of the plate. The plate at this point is shown as having a straight edge portion l2 inclined inwardly, as seen in Fig. 1, toward the opposite or inner edge of the plate.

4 Claims. (Cl. luv- 252) A screw l3, set in the inner, solid portion of the lug I0 and extending out to the slot l I, completes the clamp structure.

The cutter proper consists of a thin fiat blade M. This may be the edge section of an ordinary safety razor blade.

The guard for the blade is made up, in the present disclosure, of a strip of sheet metal folded on itself to provide blade enclosing sides l5 connected by an integral fold l6 and the latter having notches ll therein exposing portions of the edge of the blade.

The single clamp screw 13 holds the guard and enclosed blade firmly in place and the loosening of this one screw enables the guard and blade to be quickly removed, when that is desired, as for replacement of blades.

The downward and inward inclination. of the blade facilitates engagement of the threads therewith and provides for a shearing type of cut enabling the threads to be quickly severed with the slightest effort.

The narrowing of the bed plate inwardly toward the needle and the location of the cutter in this narrowed portion, inclined inwardly toward the needle, enables the thread to be cut at the shortest practicable length, thus avoiding wastage of thread. The saving of thread accomplished in this way is a very material item in commercial sewing machine operations.

Also, it will be clear that the disposition of the cutter as shown enables the u-pper'as well as the lower thread to be cut. This avoids the hand clipping operation usually necessary with machines of the type illustrated, saving time and labor.

While, as here disclosed, the invention may be incorporated directly in the bed plate of a conventional sewing machine, such as in the bed plate of an overcasting or overedging machine illustrated, by narrowing in the plate toward the needle and by mounting the cutter clamp in such narrowed portion, all as illustrated, it is contemplated that special bed plates may be made up carrying the thread cutter, ready to go on the machine, in place of the conventional bed plate. The removal and replacement of this bed plate is well understood. In the particular construction here illustrated the bed plate is held on the machine by a single screw passing through the opening shown in the rearward portion l of the plate, Fig. 1. Thus, upon removal of this single screw the ordinary bed plate may be taken off and either reconstructed as described to incorporate the thread cutter, or a substitute bed plate carrying the thread cutter be applied to the machine in place of the regular bed plate. What is claimed is:

l. A thread cutter comprising a folded guard having notches in the folded edge of the same, a blade enclosed in said folded guard with its edge exposed in said notches, a sewing machine bedplate havingijtheedge of the same out in toward theneedle center andta clamp for said guard located at said cut-in portion of said bedplate.

2. A thread cutter comprising a folded guard having notches in the folded edge of the'same;

l0 groove in line with the edge of the plate, a folded .,,.guard seated in said groove with its folded edge a blade enclosed in said foldedguard with its;

edge exposed in said notches;-.awsewingcmachineu bedplate having the edge of the same cut in to-,

ward the needle center and a olampforsaid and said clamp holding said guard and blade in downwardlyinclined relation. r

' guard located at said c'ut-inportion 'of'said'bed i plate, said portion being downwardly inclined upward and exposed at the edge of the plate, said guard having notchesjn said folded upper edge, fand-ablade enclosed in said guard with its edge Y exposed in said notches.

' MAX SCHREIBER.

ALPHONSO STEBBINS. 

